May 21st through the 24th I was in Washington D.C. for a work-related trip. I had the good fortune of traveling with my wonderful boss who was willing to do some sightseeing with me at a few of the military monuments and memorials. So late in the day on Sunday, May 22, our itinerary took us past the World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Wall. I wasn't sure that we would be visiting these memorials on this day so I was a little unprepared for the experience. And within a few photos of being at the WWII Memorial, the memory card on my camera said that it was full! I couldn't believe it. Talk about the worst timing EVER!!! So here are a few photos from the two memorials. I had to be very conservative in my process of taking pictures and, looking back on it now, I wish I would have tried some different angles or taken some different shots. But this is what I ended up with. The World War II Memorial is very spacious and open and the sound of the fountains calmly drowned out all the other noises of the bustling city. The Nebraska marker stands nestled among other state markers at the Pacific end of the memorial. The field of gold stars is presented behind an engraved marker stating. "Here we mark the price of Freedom." Each gold star represents 100 American service men or women who died in World War II, and believe me - it's a lot of stars!
On our walk to the Vietnam Memorial, we were harassed by a crabby Vietnam veteran of the 101st Airborne Division in a wheel chair. He was all bent out of shape about his benefits, about the VA screwing him over and the commie bullet still lodged in his back. He was also somewhat scornful of me wearing an "Airborne" t-shirt without having earned that distinctive honor. I felt bad for him but there wasn't much I could do. I thought it was quite ironic that I was getting chewed-out by a Screaming Eagle when the one person who I came to the wall to find was a 101st Screaming Eagle himself. So after flipping through one of the nearby directories, I was able to find the name of Donald Steven Waite, whom I have written about previously on this blog. I had planned to find the names of several other fallen soldiers, sailors and marines, but the daylight was running out, we were hungry and I had no more room on my camera. And so sadly for me, we pushed on and headed back to Georgetown. I left the two memorials inspired and in awe, filled with the hope that I will someday return and spend some more time at these two silent reminders of the cost of our freedom.
